1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to motorized vehicles, and more particularly, to an inertial mass detection device, which renders in a visible and/or audible manner the inertial mass of a moving vehicle for the purpose of reducing fuel consumption.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Efforts to conserve fuel derived from petrol usually used in motorized vehicles have become increasingly intense in recent years due to the rising cost of gasoline. Internal combustion engines are the most widely-used type of engine for automobiles and are also relatively inefficient. Therefore, recent fuel conservation efforts have included designing engines which are capable of consuming a variety of fuels including ethanol or gasoline/ethanol mixtures (also known as “gasohol”).
Due in large part to limitations of the internal combustion engine, use of alternative fuels for automobile propulsion has not been widely adopted. Because of the highly accurate tolerances which are required in piston engines, use of more than one type of fuel without a general resetting of the engine is frequently not feasible.
The excessive weight of internal combustion engines has led to an emphasis on designing alternative types of propulsion devices and piston engines having fewer than eight cylinders. Some alternative types of propulsion devices include electric motors and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Hybrid electric vehicles typically include electric traction motors, high-voltage electric energy storage systems and modified transmissions. While it is necessary to use fuel energy to move and maintain an internal combustion vehicle in motion, once the vehicle is in motion it accumulates free inertial mass which can be harnessed by the driver's efficient driving responding to the device's indication.
In current use, there are millions of vehicles which are powered by internal combustion engines or a hybrid combination of electric and internal combustion engines. These vehicles are commonly acted upon by inertial forces during driving. Enabling operators of these vehicles to visualize the inertial forces which are not due to gravity and are acting upon the vehicle at any particular time, as determined by the second law of motion, can enable the vehicle operators to conserve fuel and avoid aggressive driving such as unnecessarily rapid acceleration followed by braking. By visualizing and learning to recognize and reduce aggressive driving, studies have found that gas mileage may be reduced by approximately 33 percent at highway speeds.
A cruise control system automatically controls the speed of a vehicle. In typical operation of a cruise control, the driver of the vehicle brings the vehicle up to a desired speed using the vehicle's accelerator and typically depresses a button to set the cruise control to the selected speed. The cruise control system then controls the throttle of the vehicle to maintain the selected speed of the vehicle.
A cruise control system of a vehicle may cause higher fuel consumption than is necessary because it tends to over throttle on upward slopes, wasting the energy storage capabilities which are available from the inertia of the vehicle.
Therefore, what is needed is an inertial mass detection device which renders in a visible or audible manner the inertial mass of a moving vehicle at all time for the purpose of reducing fuel consumption. In some applications, the inertial mass detection device is connected to a cruise control system of a vehicle and automatically turns-off the original setup speed of the cruise control when necessary to conserve fuel, allowing the driver to control the vehicle's speed again.